The 10 Best Bands We Discovered at CMJ 2009

On any given night in New York, there’s some great, young, undiscovered band playing their hearts out for a small crowd. But during the CMJ Music Marathon, there are several each hour. It’s a perfect time to hop from club to club in search of your new favorite artist (or the Best of What’s Next, as we like to say), and this year, that search was particularly rewarding. Here are our 10 favorite new discoveries:

1. Pete and J

Peter Harper and Jason Blynn make up just half of this band, who’ll be changing their name to Harper Blynn in a few weeks before releasing their first album digitally later this year. Despite their Brooklyn address and hipster credentials (drummer Sarab Singh’s brother writes for Stereogum), there’s nothing remotely indie rock about the band—the harmonies recall Simon & Garfunkel, and the melodies would make Elvis Costello proud.Hometown: BrooklynFor fans of: recent Avett Brothers, Summerteeth-era Wilco

Technically, we fell in love with Free Energy via their MySpace page a few weeks before seeing them live at Piano’s during CMJ. Their debut is coming out next year on James Murphy’s label, but the straight-up guitar rock couldn’t sound more different than LCD Soundsystem.Hometown: PhiladelphiaFor fans of: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Fountains of Wayne, The Hold SteadyStart with:“Dream City”

We missed the first U.S. show from London’s Golden Silvers but were thankful that the buzz that followed led us to their ‘80s retro-synth-pop. The debut album True Romance came out early this year on XL Recordings.Hometown: LondonFor fans of: Vampire Weekend, The SqueezeStart with:“Arrows of Eros”